Improvement in peat-wringers



' UNITEDV STATES VPATENT OFFICE.

AIME NICHOLAS NAPOLEON AUBIN, OF PORTLAND, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR. TOAUBIN PEATFUEL AND MACHINE COMPANY OF CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICANFEAT-FUEL COMPANY OF NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN PEAT-WRINGERS.

Specification forming part of Letters VPatent No. 117,591, dated Augustl, 1871.

To all whom t may conce-ru.-

Be it known that I, AIME NIcHoLAs NAP@ LEON AUBIN, of Portland, in thecounty of Middlesex, in the State of Connecticut, have invented anapparatus for extracting a certain portion of the water retained in peatwhen recently drawn from the bog, and which I call a Peat-ringer,77 ofwhich the following is a specication.

The nature of my invention consists in forcing the wet peat to traversea box provided with strainers of a particular construction, againstwhich the peat is submitted to a gradually-increasing pressure, and soarranged that the peat, traveling in one direction, cannot escapethrough the apertures, while the water can run out in a contrarydirection.

Figure l is a perspective View of the wringer. Fig. 2 is a side and topView of the strainers on a larger scale. Fig. 3 shows how the strainersare placed on the boards so 'as to be easily withdrawn and replaced. l

A A A A is an oblong cylindrical box made of wood or iron. The bottom ofit is continued to a. On the top,near one end,is ahopper,B B, throughwhich the peat is introduced. C C is a piston moving backward andforward. It is long enough to close the lower aperture ofthe hopperwhile the front end of the piston moves to a. The front end of thelatter has holes covered witha wire-gauze, c1, to allow air to enter thebox when the piston is moving backward. Above the forward face of thepiston at c2 is iixed aknife with angular teeth. On the opposite side ofthe lower aperture of the hopper is a plate of iron or steel, under andclose to which the piston passes. This knife and Vplate are placed thusin order to cut any root which otherwise might interfere with the motionof the piston. Any fine roots adhering to the knife are thrown off whenthe piston recedes and passes the lower edge ofthe hopper. D D is adoor, which, when lowered to its place, forms a continuation of theupper side ofthe box to which it is hinged. d' is a hook by which thedoor is fastened when the apparatus is in operation. This door enablesthe attendants to clean the strainers and the inside of the box. E,upright partition, furnished on each side with strainers, and placedthere to divide the peat which is forced through the box, and thus tomultiply the water-separatin g surface. F F, compressors. They arecomposed of two boards, hinged to each of the upright sides of the boxat f1 f1. Their inside surface is furnished with strainers. O11 theoutside are fixed two iron straps, f2 f2, withan eye at their outwardend to receive a rope or chain. Each rope passes over a pulley placed onan upright fixed to the edge of the bottom opposite each compressor. Aweight, f3 f3, is suspended to each of the ends passing over the pulleysf4f4. Theseuprights areproportionedto the pressure to which the wet peatis to be subinitted, and tend to draw the compressors together andtoward the center partition E. G G, strainers. They are composed of aframe, g1, made of flat iron, to which strips of sheet-tin or galvanizediron g2 g2 are riveted, so as to overlap each other like blinds, leavinga narrow space between the strips. Each of these strainers is placed ina recessleft in the boards, as seen at Fig. 3, and kept in its place bya thin strip ofwood or metal. These strainers can thus be easilywithdrawn'and replaced. The strainers, which do not move, are placedover holes bored in the bottom of the box for the escape of the water.The water absorbed by the strainers on the compressors passes under thescalloped apertures f5 f5 left attheirlower edge. The water from all thestrainers is conducted to a receiver placed under the box.

The wrin ger being constructed as just described, its operation is asfollows: The peat, as dug from the bog, is thrown into the hopper B, andwhen the piston has moved back to the position shown in the drawing itfalls into the box; then a forward stroke of the piston pushes it towardthe compressors to al. Another stroke brings a new charge, which, whenmoved forward, pushes the former one between the compressors, where thespace becoming gradually contracted, the ,wet peat is slowly pressedagainst the strainers. As the peat travels in the direction of theoverlap of the strips its ibrous form prevents it from escaping backwardthrough the spaces between the strips while the mass is moving forward.In

the mean time, the water expressed from the mass by the pressure towhich it is exposed runs out freely through the strainers. As may beseen,

the compression is constantly proportionate to the weights, andregulates itself according to the quantity of material brought by eachstroke of tliepiston. The operation of the wringeris, there fore,regular, continuous, and selfadjusting, as each motion of the pistonexpels a quantity of peat, partially deprived of its Water, equal to thea hopper, B, piston C, compressors F, and strainamount received throughthe hopper, and which ers G, the Whole constructed and operatingsubhasto be exposed in its turn to the same pressstantially as set forth. Yure due to the Weights. N. AUBIN.

What I claim as my invention is- An apparatus to separate fromfreshly-dug peat Witnesses: a portion of its Water, and which I call apeat- N. SLINGLAND, Wringer, consisting in a box or cylinder, A, with J.SCOUGHAM QUIN.

